30A – Final Reflection

Looking through all of the past semester's blog posts, one of them had reminded me of a previous time I had accomplished something I was very proud of. The blog post I am mentioning is our Halfway Reflection, which had us mention a time we dealt with adversity. While re-reading that assignment I can remember all the effort I put into this semester and being able to do so well in my courses. I would say I am proudest of my success academically this semester, and maintaining an A gpa.

I would say I am more of an entrepreneur now than I was before. I think I have come to understand the entrepreneurial mindset far better than what my idea of it was at the start of the class.

One recommendation for students who are hoping to become entrepreneurs, do not be worried about failure, just focus on improvement. In order to succeed in this class you have to be consistent. You cannot forget your assignments, you have to make sure to organize your work and finish it at a prompt time. I would say that keeping a calendar, setting alarms, and keeping a focused mind will help to foster this mindset.

29A – Venture Concept No. 2

"Keto Nick's Grocery"

Opportunity

The Ketogenic diet has begun to grow immensely in popularity, and not just because it's a quick way to lose weight. Many individuals and even medical professionals have reported to seen positive results with dietary therapy that involves the ketogenic diet. While this is a growing phenomenon with why people want to do keto, the fact still remains that a majority of people go on keto to lose weight.
Our customer profile would consist of someone who considers themselves overweight or out of shape even, and also would be someone middle aged or younger. They most likely come from a densely urban or sub-urban area, either along the coasts of the U.S. or in the South and Midwest.
What's critical about the ketogenic diet is being able to maintain a state of ketosis, where your body will burn fat molecules instead of carbohydrates. This requires you to minimize all carb intake to a minimum, or as close to 0 grams a day as you can. This can pose quite a challenge for almost anybody on the planet, and when you factor how long humans have been eating carbs, you could say it is impossible for most.
With these issues currently present, there is an opportunity to create something that can help many people mitigate the problems with going ketogenic. 

Innovation

The innovation I am proposing is a ketogenic grocery store. This is something that will be very different when you compare it to any conventional grocery store, from the products available, to the store's offers, and the unique variety of goods featured. The store will include only ketogenic friendly items, basically anything that would not be totally detrimental to someone on a keto diet. An example of these items would be things like oils, dairy, meat, some nuts, vegetables, and certain fermented foods like yogurt.

The different items we will have for sale will reflect our necessity for keto only, while simultaneously offering unique products for people who may not be able to buy that select item elsewhere in their region. Some types of fish, some cuts of meat, certain brands of dairy, vegetable oil, and so forth could find themselves stocked in a ketogrocery, but not in a conventional one.

The ability to generate profit for this business will be about how much the marginal cost will be for each grocery item we purchase for resale. Most prices for a wide selection of products will likely be the same as they are in conventional grocery stores. More unique or varied products such as different fish or cuts of meat may be priced higher due to lack of availability by other grocery stores in some places. The day to day business operations would of course be near identical to regional competitors, due to the logical time of day that a grocery store would normally operate.

     

Venture Concept

The premise behind this Venture Concept is to respond and capitalize on the fact that there is currently no solely exclusive location to shop for ketogenic products. The interest that people would have in this type of business concept is that it allows them to purchase all their goods for their diet, without questioning if it is good for them, becoming distracted by other foods, or even to purchase limited items that only are available at this store.

The type of competition we can expect for this venture will come from local, regional, and national grocery retailers. There will be competition with the likes of Walmart and Costco, but the bulk of the action will occur with stores like Whole Foods, Trader Joes, Publix, and others.

Three Elements

The most important resource we have in our possession is the product variety we will have. The many different meats, dairy brands and more will act as an enticing bargain for some who may not have access to that item elsewhere.
Our next step of this venture to help it grow and build would be to include keto-friendly recipes, cooking advice, and meal prep help throughout the grocery store. Offering small classes even to show others how to make some dishes is even a possibility.
Within the next five years I expect that if all were to go well we would have 1 or 2 other possible locations, either in the state of Florida or in adjacent regions. In the next decade I hope I can have a well-established keto grocery chain that maintains a positive brand image, and excels at serving customers quality groceries.

     

28A – Your Exit Strategy

1) Ideally, I would hope to hold on to the venture and make it successful enough to pass on to my children and hopefully grandchildren. Of course however, if my business venture became successful and lucrative enough for a potential buyer to appear at the right price, anything is possible. The most likely scenario would be to stay with the business for 5-15 years and be able to sell it, maybe through an expansion to retain a paying job with the new company. I feel this would give me a good amount of money while simultaneously giving me a cushion to land on after selling or merging the business.

2) I choose this strategy because it feels the safest, and logically I would rather make a good amount of money from this business, and either come up with another, or retain a decent paying job. It would be easiest as well to sell the business once I am older, to pursue different interests or establish myself in another industry while I am still able.

3) I actually never considered my exit strategy before this assignment. The focus in my mind is on how can we make this business successful today, not whether I should sell it in 5 or 10 years. I think my exit strategy has had zero influence on my considerations for what to acquire, what resources to use, or even how I identified any opportunities.

27A – Reading Reflection No. 3

How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big, Scott Adams

1) The general theme of this book I would say is that of creating alternative ways to think about solving a problem or dealing with a dilemma. Adams described his process by likening it to creating a 'system' around the problem, rather than creating a 'goal' to complete. His reasoning was that to accomplish a goal, all that was necessary was the end result. For a system to work however, it must be able to perform well and efficiently. If you consider how you look at your work, much of it is in a goal-oriented mindset. With a system-oriented mindset, you consider what will work best rather than what get its done. 2) I think this book has helped enhance my learning in this class significantly. When I look at a lot of our assignments, it would have been beneficial to have read and learned about the concepts and methods that are taught in this book. 3) I think one exercise that I would try to create for this class to do, based on this book, is creating a more efficient method to finish a task. It could be something like operating a cash register, or even improving how a restaurant operates. 4) The biggest surprise I had reading this book is the importance of taking risks. Many influential, wealthy, and successful individuals today are where they are because of the risks that they had undertaken to achieve their success. This taught me that failures are not the end result, the lack of improvement and learning is.

26A – Celebrating Failure

1) In this past semester, one instance where I had experienced a failure is completing a series of assignments correctly for one of my courses. It was separate assignments, and within each there was a description for what to do, but there was also a separate rubric that had other parameters. In every assignment I had either done something incorrectly, or I had missed something that was on the assignment description, but not in the graded rubric.

2) What I learned firstly was to rewatch lectures for any mistakes I may have made. Second was to thoroughly complete the assignment and include each and every step I had done to find my results. I showed my work on the later assignments and formatted it to be extremely easy to read. 

3) What I think about failure is that it happens to everyone, and it is something to learn from. Failure from trying to improve is something to be fine with, but failure for lack of effort or wrong doing is not something to stand for. I think the way I handle failure emotionally and behaviorally is not too different from others. I usually will feel irritated about it, think of what I could have done better, and consider ways to improve for the future. This class has not changed my perspective personally on failure, but I would say I better understand why taking risks can be sometimes necessary.

25A – What’s Next?

Existing Market

Step 1

What I think is next for our venture is to include informational pamphlets that add recipes that are keto friendly.

Step 2 

For the three customers I interviewed for this assignment, two of them said the next thing I need for a venture such as my store is my own store brand products. The third potential customer said to create some type of keto friendly bakery, which is actually doable. When I asked them about my recipe list idea, they all agreed it is something that would definitely help the business and increase people's likelihood of going back.

Step 3

     For our current market, it makes the most sense to increase the services that we provide. By creating a new recipe list, this would help more people have an interest in shopping keto. It can also help create a greater sense of brand loyalty, especially if people really enjoy some of the recipes they cook.

     Another great idea that one of my interviewed customers mentioned is the keto bakery. Having a keto bakery that uses things like almond flour and stevia for sweetener is definitely viable, and would have huge potential to take the business further. Both these business ideas would help to grow our existing market, and generate more interest from our customers.

New Market

Step 1

     I chose to consider the market for B2B, such as wholesalers and farmers that sell to these primary suppliers. 

Step 2

     People in this market have a greater opportunity to generate profit if they are in the meat industry, dairy industry, oil industry (food oils like olive), and nut industry. Keto food involves a large amount of these foods, and having keto grow in popularity means more people buying at a keto grocery store, where their food is supplied by this market.

Step 3 

     The two people I interviewed said that this kind of business would most help with generating more revenue for farmers and food wholesalers. One adaptation they said I could make it to consider selecting a few grocery items and creating your own store brand version, like almond milk or peanuts.

Step 4

     What surprised me the most in this new market is how few the options are to buy from different wholesalers. There are only a couple of major farmers which is a given for any product, but there were less wholesalers than anticipated. I did not have any expectations or assumptions outside of what has been mentioned thus far. This new market does not appear at all to be as attractive as my existing market. My existing market serves the needs of this business venture perfectly.

Reflect, in two to three paragraphs, on what you learned about this new market. What surprised you the most? Were any of your expectations/assumptions correct? Does this new market, on second thought, appear to be as attractive as your existing market? And so on. 

24A – Venture Concept No. 1

"Keto Nick's Grocery"

Opportunity

     With the growing popularity of the ketogenic diet, more and more people everyday are finding themselves wanting to follow the diet. Many of these individuals are interested because they would like to lose weight. Others might be interested due to health limitations or dietary restrictions. Even more still might just be wanting to improve athletic performance or just general health overall. 

     The majority of people who would be most interested in following a keto diet would likely be more middle aged, somewhat overweight, and would be male a little more often than female. Many of these people would reside along the coasts of the U.S., in larger urban areas, and most metropolitan areas in the Midwest and Southwest. This is because of the variety of food available that makes it viable to even consider following the ketogenic diet.

     The most important part about the ketogenic diet is to not eat carbohydrates, or limit them to a very low quantity (most sources site 20 net carbs as the maximum allowance, others fluctuate with the amount). People find it the most difficult to quit carbs while trying to follow the ketogenic diet, and this could be for a variety for reasons. Some people have trouble with quitting because they enjoy eating bread, pasta, desserts, sugar, and rightfully so! Others have the capability to follow, but get sidetracked when they see carbs. Some may just have issues with choosing the right foods because they do not know which exactly are keto friendly and which have too many carbs. 

     With current grocery stores, there is a ton of different food options, and half of them, if not most, are totally incompatible for following a ketogenic diet. As health stagnates in some parts of the country, people will want to find ways to get healthier, and the ketogenic diet is a very viable option for some who have certain desired goals. Customers currently satisfy their need by shopping at conventional grocery stores or going to specialty vendors that serve a very specific food type (think UF butchery). Many customers have brand loyalty for a few specific grocery stores, and an even wider circle of grocery stores they would consider shopping at.

     This is a sizeable opportunity to develop a unique and niche brand within a crowded market. It is difficult but worthwhile and can create further establishments easier once the brand has ascertained a certain position in the minds of consumers. This window of opportunity may last for a little while longer, as some others may have considered creating this type of grocery store.

Innovation

     The innovation I am proposing is a ketogenic grocery store. This would be a creative service that would be applied in the grocery market to address the lack of exclusively ketogenic product spaces. This type of service is something that would be considered incrementally innovative. It would be a profitable business that caters to a growing customer base, while establishing a clean and reputable brand. People are able to come and shop for items that are only ketogenic, which allows for keto-friendly purchases to always be made.

     The ability to generate profit for this business will be about how much the marginal cost will be for each grocery item we purchase for resale. Most prices for a wide selection of products will likely be the same as they are in conventional grocery stores. More unique or varied products such as different fish or cuts of meat may be priced higher due to lack of availability by other grocery stores in some places. The day to day business operations would of course be near identical to regional competitors, due to the logical time of day that a grocery store would normally operate.

     

Venture Concept

     This venture concept is specifically designed to capitalize on the opportunity of no exclusively keto grocery stores. Customers would want to switch to shopping at this grocery store because they can shop keto exclusively without having to worry about buying anything that's not keto. They also would be able to buy foods that would not be available at their usual grocery store. It would be somewhat difficult to convince some people to simply stop buying at their old grocery store, but it is possible to have them purchase at ours often to where they may switch over most of their purchases to our location.

     Most of our competitors would consist of local, regional, and national grocery retailers. Very specifically, it would be grocery stores that are healthy, organic, and contain a wider option of healthier foods. You can think of places like Publix, Krogers, Trader Joe's, Whole Foods, Lucky's, as being primary competitors of our business.

Three Elements

     Our most important resource would have to be our product variety. Having a more unique selection of meats and dairies is enough to persuade many to shop for some food items exclusively at our store.

     The next thing for our venture is to come out with series of unique recipes that are all keto friendly. We would display this in prominent locations within the grocery store, and have further information at the service desk that can be read.

     Within the next five years I would hope this venture has several locations within a region, and has developed itself into a reputable and safe brand, with a positive association in consumers minds. In the next decade I hope that I can branch out into other projects safely, without putting my own livelihood or wellbeing at financial risk. This first venture would help me establish credibility, financial capability, and experience with how to begin a business, which is all immensely important for an entrepreneur to succeed.

x

23A – Your Venture’s Unfair Advantage

Resources

1. Marketing capabilities 

[Valuable - Immensely valuable; Rare - No; Inimitable - No; Non-Substitutable - Somewhat]

2. Work ethic 

[Valuable - Highly valuable; Rare - Somewhat; Inimitable - No; Non-Substitutable - Yes]

3. Financial Capital 

[Valuable - Highly valuable; Rare - No; Inimitable - No; Non-Substitutable - Yes]

4. Social Capital 

[Valuable - Highly valuable; Rare - Somewhat; Inimitable - No; Non-Substitutable - Yes]

5. Education 

[Valuable - Extremely valuable; Rare - Yes; Inimitable - Somewhat; Non-Substitutable - Yes]

 

6. Work experience 

[Valuable - Highly valuable; Rare - No; Inimitable - No; Non-Substitutable - Yes]

7. Uniqueness 

[Valuable - Somewhat valuable; Rare - Yes; Inimitable - Somewhat; Non-Substitutable - Yes]

8. Product variety 

[Valuable - Highly valuable; Rare - Somewhat; Inimitable - No; Non-Substitutable - No]

9.  Health-centric

[Valuable - Valuable; Rare - A little; Inimitable - No; Non-Substitutable - No]

10. Business brand

[Valuable - Valuable; Rare - No; Inimitable - No; Non-Substitutable - No]

The most important resource for this business idea would have to be our marketing capabilities. The business service I am trying to push forward is a grocery store, meaning we are entering a market with a lot of brand loyalty and businesses with extensive history in this arena. Having that ability to gain interest and customers is immensely important for our success.